Chapter 16 - Derek’s Last Statement
Derek Hale survived the shooting.
Barely.
He was found inside a farmhouse kitchen outside Cold Spring.
A single wound had left him critically injured.
There was no weapon nearby.
No sign of forced entry.
And no Gerald.
At the hospital, Detective Ruiz waited outside the trauma unit.
Daniel stood beside him.
Richard remained at the mansion with Elena.
Shortly after noon, a doctor allowed Ruiz three minutes with Derek.
Daniel entered too.
Derek looked nothing like the powerful figure Gerald had built inside his mythology.
He was seventy-one.
Thin.
Gray.
Connected to machines.
His eyes moved toward Daniel.
“You came back.”
Daniel nodded.
“So did you.”
Derek almost smiled.
Ruiz leaned closer.
“Mr. Hale, who shot you?”
Derek looked toward the ceiling.
Then whispered.
“My son.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Ruiz asked, “Why?”
“He wanted the recording.”
“Charles’s confession?”
“Yes.”
“Did he get it?”
“No.”
“Where is it?”
Derek looked at Daniel.
“Safe place.”
Daniel frowned.
“Where?”
Derek lifted one trembling finger.
“Blue room.”
Daniel stared at him.
Richard’s childhood mansion.
Daniel’s former bedroom.
The nursery.
Ruiz immediately called the officers at the estate.
Elena answered Richard’s phone.
“Blue room?”
Richard repeated.
They both looked around the nursery.
They had already searched the safe.
The desk.
The walls.
Then Elena remembered something.
“When we renovated, we left the old fireplace sealed.”
Richard looked toward the decorative panel behind the crib.
Workers had covered the original fireplace with built-in cabinetry.
He removed the lower panel.
Behind it sat a rusted metal box.
Inside were two cassette tapes.
A bank key.
And a handwritten letter from Charles Howard.
Richard stared at his father’s writing.
Elena read over his shoulder.
IF THIS IS FOUND, GERALD HAS GONE TOO FAR.
Richard’s hands shook.
The letter was not an apology.
Charles admitted stealing money.
He admitted threatening Derek.
He admitted helping Gerald conceal Daniel’s survival.
But the final paragraph changed everything.
GERALD BELIEVES DANIEL’S RETURN WILL DESTROY HIM.
HE IS WRONG.
THE PERSON WHO CAN DESTROY HIM IS RICHARD.
Elena frowned.
“Why you?”
Richard continued reading.
BECAUSE RICHARD IS THE ONLY PERSON WHO KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED THE NIGHT DEREK HALE’S CAR WENT OFF THE ROAD.
Richard went completely still.
Elena looked at him.
“You were there?”
He did not answer.
“Richard.”
He sat down slowly.
“I was sixteen.”
Memory returned in fragments.
Rain.
His father driving.
A second car ahead.
Charles shouting into a phone.
A crash barrier.
Flames far below.
Richard had always believed he witnessed the aftermath.
Now another memory surfaced.
His father had not arrived after the crash.
May you like
He had been following Derek’s car before it happened.
And sitting in the passenger seat, sixteen-year-old Richard had seen Charles make the phone call that started everything.
